Hercules
"Hello, brother."' '- Hercules '' Greek Mythology '''Heracles' (Greek: Ἡρακλῆς, Hēraklēs, from Hēra, "Hera", and kleos, "glory")(Roman: Hercules) is the son of Zeus and Alcmene. Hera held a grudge at him for being Zeus' child until the day he died. Hercules married King Creon's daughter, Megara. In a fit of madness, induced by Hera, Hercules killed his children and wife. After his madness had been cured with hellebore by Antikyreus, he realized what he had done, and fled to the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi, and there he was directed by the Oracle to serve King Eurystheus for 10 years and perform any task commanded. King Eurystheus decided to give Hercules 10 labors but after completing them he said Hercules cheated and gave him two more, resulting in the most famous story of the hero (and one of the most famous of any Greek hero) – the Twelve Labors of Hercules. Hercules is considered the ancestor of the Spartans and the royal family of Sparta. Hercules was made a full god by Zeus after his mortal body was killed, and went to live on Olympus. His story shares many similarities with Kratos'. The Twelve Labors Of Hercules #Slay the Nemean Lion and bring back its hide, which was unbreakable and uncuttable by any weapon. #Slay the 9-headed Lernaean Hydra. #Capture the Golden Stag of Artemis. #Capture the Erymanthian Boar. #Clean the Augean stables in a single day. #Slay the Stymphalian Birds. #Capture the Cretan Bull. #Steal the Mares of Diomedes. #Obtain the Girdle of the Amazon warrior queen Hippolyta. #Obtain the Cattle of the Monster Geryon. #Steal the Apples of the Hesperides, which were strictly guarded by a 100-headed dragon called Ladon. #Capture Cerberus, the guardian dog of Hades, unarmed, and bring him back. As a reward for cleaning the Augean stables in a single day, the King offered Hercules the chance to impregnate each of his 50 daughters. This had to be done in a single night. Some refer to this labour as Hercules' unofficial 13th labor. In God of War III however, Hercules attempts to complete an entirely different 13th labor; killing his half-brother Kratos. In the God of War series Some of Kratos' moves with the Blades of Chaos are named after Hercules (Spirit of Hercules, Valor of Hercules, and Might of Hercules). There is also a bonus costume of Hercules that can be unlocked in God of War II. He is also the half older brother of Kratos and ancestor of the Spartans. Similarites are shared between Hercules and Kratos. Both warriors mercilessly killed their wife and children under the influence of gods (Hera for Hercules; Ares for Kratos), having been forced to serve Olympus for a number of years in order to hopefully gain redemption. Both are also demigods, being the sons of Zeus. Their rage is also uncontrollable, leading to moments where they become blinded by blood lust. In God of War III, Hercules is first seen taking orders from his father to attack the invading Titans. He then commands a group of undead soldiers to jump off Olympus and attack the Titans, landing on Gaia's arm to attack Kratos.thumb|right|200px|Hercules' Encounter with Kratos When Kratos later encounters Hera in the Arena, she has Hercules fight Kratos as her champion. There, Hercules reveals how he believes Zeus considers Kratos his favorite as he was the one assigned to kill Ares while he was cleaning the Augean stables, and growing even more jealous when Kratos was being crowned the God of War, while Hercules was instructed to steal the Apples of the Hesperides. And although he was the one who killed the Nemean Lion, Kratos was the one Zeus made famous across the world. He then reveals how he plans to destroy Kratos as his thirteenth, unofficial labour, becoming the God of War himself. After Kratos kills all of his undead soldiers, Hercules decides to fight him himself using the Cestus. Kratos however, stabs him in the arms and takes the pair of Cestus one by one. Hercules then fights Kratos unarmed and after a long and fierce fight, Kratos traps his brother underneath the battleground, brutally smashing Hercules' face with the Cestus, with the last blow smashing the arena's floor. Both Kratos and Hercules, the latter now dead and gruesomely disfigured, tumble into the sewers below, where Kratos leaves his brother's body to rot. Before leaving, Kratos can take Hercules' shoulder plate. Powers and abilities Hercules is considered the most powerful hero of Greek mythology. His main and most important power was his vast Super Strength, which most likely surpassed that of Kratos, being able to physically overpower him in their duel. He was perhaps the strongest being in the universe, as his strength rivaled that of the Titans themselves. He also possessed Regeneration, High Resistance, Super Agility and Sense Enhancement. In his battle with Kratos, he was able to rip off huge pieces of the arena to use as projectiles, throw Kratos to the edge of the battleground with ease, and actually managed to lift the entire floor of the battleground before Kratos' final attack. The Nemean Cestus only increased his brute force, allowing him to create powerful shockwaves and send Kratos flying halfway across the arena with a single blow. After the loss of his Cestus, Hercules also displayed a degree of superhuman speed, quickly dodging around Kratos in an attempt to throw him off balance. He also had Resistance and Stamina to an extreme degree, due to being Zeus' first demi-god son. He also seems to have authority over the minions of Olympus, directing them to attack their foes en masse. Trivia * Hercules is voiced by Kevin Sorbo, who played the character in the television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. * Hercules was originally going to appear in God of War II and was to be voiced by Cam Clarke, but due to time and budget, he was scrapped while the credits still listed Cam Clarke for the role. Although he was scrapped from God of War II, there was an unlockable bonus costume for him in that game, which appears completely different from that of the Hercules in God of War III. * God of War III marks the third time Kratos killed an ancestor/older brother of his. Ares was the first and Perseus the second. * Hercules mentions he was doing two of his labors during God Of War, but was already famous and worshipped as a god before Kratos was. He either died doing ten, or he was comparing his labors to Kratos', thus being jealous. It is also possible Hercules completed his labors at the same time Kratos was on his own quest. The inconsistancy, like several others, could be alterations for the game. * Despite all the Olympians going by their Greek names, Hercules is identified by his Roman name rather than his Greek name, Heracles. The inconsistency of the regional naming is possibly due to the fame and popularity attached to the Roman version of the name. It might as well be to maintain consistency with the attack names and bonus costume in God of War II. * Although Hercules has previously appeared in God of War II as a character skin for Kratos, the model used for this skin is completely different than the model for Hercules in God of War III. This could indicate that Hercules' appearance had not been fully completed until after God of War II had been made and released. * There is a distinct lion motif to Hercules' portrayal in God of War III: he considers his defeat of the Nemean Lion one of the only labors worthy of him, his helm resembles a lion's face (with the plume forming a mane of sorts), his shoulder guards resemble lion paws, his preferred weapons have lion's faces on them, and many of the attacks learned from said weapons evoke images of lions and beasts. * Hercules' jealousy of Kratos as Zeus' favorite son is quite ironic and contrary to current events, considering Kratos' ascension to God of War ended with Zeus stabbing his "favorite" in the stomach. * Hercules seems to have been infected by the negative emotion of jealousy, to the point of irrationality seeing how he so easily overlooked how much the bad outweighed the good in Kratos' life. Also he seems to hold a great deal of pride and arrogance, although he may have been entitled to this given his vast potential. * Additionally, Hercules' role as a champion of Hera is both fitting and ironic, as his Greek name, Heracles, translates to "Hera's pride", yet mythology states that Hera despised Heracles with extreme vigor, even for one of Zeus' illegitimate children. In fact, much of Heracles' story is a result of Hera's hatred of him. * In God of War III,Hercules talks about his labors as if it were Zeus who assigned him those labors when in mythology his cousin,King Eurysutheus was the one who assigned him the labors. * The reason for why Hera would have Hercules fight Kratos may have been spawned out of her hatred for both of them. By having them both fight one another, she was guaranteed that at least one of them would die. Related Pages * Demigod * Hercules (Costume) * Perseus * Zeus * Kratos * Cestus Gallery 307wxg0.png 4585.JPG Death of hercules.jpg Hercules(?).jpg Hercules.JPG Hercules.jpg Hercules2.jpg Herculescostume-1-.jpg Nemeancestus-453x300.jpg hercules 1.jpg hercules 2.jpg hercules 3.jpg Category:Characters Category:Demigods Category:Bosses Category:God of War III Category:Enemies